Are there dragons in the world?

Dragon is a miraculous animal in ancient myths and legends in China and other East Asian regions, and it is the leader of scale insects. Often used as a symbol of good luck, it is one of the most representative traditional cultures of East Asian nations such as Han nationality, and the legend of dragon is very rich.

The most basic feature of the dragon image is "nine similarities", and these nine animals are still controversial. Legend has it that it can be hidden, detailed and huge, short and long. The vernal equinox ascends to the sky, the autumnal equinox dives into the deep, and it calls for rain, and these are the images of dragons developed in the later period, which are more complicated than the original dragons.

The Zhang Guoxing Classic says, "If you have auxiliary wings, you are a real dragon." You think that if you have wings, you are a real dragon. For example, there were a large number of dragon boats with wings in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and even Qinglong in the pre-Qin ornamentation had wings, saying that Qinglong was the ancestor dragon. In feudal times, the dragon was a symbol of imperial power, and the objects used in the palace were also decorated with dragons.

Dragon ranks fifth among the traditional Chinese zodiac animals in China, and is called "Four Spirits" with phoenix, tortoise and forest in the Book of Rites. And in western mythology? Dragon, also translated as Jackie Chan, is different.

The creatures in China ancient folk myths and legends that can be seen in China's ancient books and records can't be found in reality, but the components of their images come from reality, which plays the role of exorcising evil spirits, avoiding disasters and praying for blessings.

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The productivity of early society was low, and people lived in a harsh natural environment, unable to control the natural forces independently and unable to explain their own sources. They are full of illusions, longings and even fears about nature, and worship all kinds of natural or supernatural forces that are more powerful than human beings. This is the social foundation of totem and ghosts and gods.

The reason for the formation of dragon totem is the Busan symbol originated from the Yellow Emperor. According to Records of the Five Emperors, after defeating Emperor Yan and Chiyou, the Yellow Emperor visited all directions and "joined forces with Busan". This "symbol combination" not only unified the military symbols of various ministries and established a political alliance, but also combined some elements from the totem of primitive tribes to create a new animal image-dragon.

Since then, all tribes in the Central Plains have had the same dragon totem, thus opening the history of unifying Chinese civilization. China people are all "descendants of dragons".

Although this story perfectly explains how unnatural dragons became the ancestors of the Chinese nation, the discovery of dragon images in prehistoric cultural sites makes it self-defeating.

Most modern scholars believe that dragon totems evolved from other animal totems. In the early days, snake evolution theory was widely representative. When snakes evolved into dragons, we naturally became "descendants of dragons".

But in fact, the saying of the descendants of dragons didn't catch on until after the May 4th Movement.

Ethnicity

In China, the dragon has experienced four stages of development: totem worship, deity worship, the combination of dragon worship and emperor worship, and the combination of Buddhist naga dragon worship and dragon worship. ?

In the stage of totem worship, some ancient tribes in China regarded dragons as totems, ancestors and symbols. According to historical documents and related legends, the dragon (originally a snake) was originally the totem of Fuxi clan, and later became the totem of Taijue (Tai Hao) tribe. Taiyi tribe is one of the most important origins of dragon totem worship.

In the stage of worship of gods, agriculture and animal husbandry gradually formed, and religious beliefs also developed, from simple totem worship to polytheism. Dragon totem worship has also developed into dragon god worship. People deify dragons as water gods and rainbow gods.

After the dragon was deified, it was combined with emperor worship. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the unification of China needed a corresponding great god to integrate the beliefs of all ethnic groups, and dragon worship was combined with emperor worship.

Ancient emperors in China described themselves as incarnations or sons of the Dragon God, or people protected by the Dragon God. With the help of dragons, they established their authority and gained people's universal trust and support. In this way, the dragon gained a more prominent position and played a very important role in the development of dragon culture.

Five-color dragon worship and dragon god belief were formed during the Warring States period. In the Spring and Autumn Period, there were five gods, which were matched with dragon, tiger, phoenix, turtle and unicorn. Dragon is just one of them, which matches the wooden god Gou Mang, but the concept of five dragons has not yet formed. By the Warring States period, the concept of Five Dragons had begun to take shape.

Finally, it is the stage of combining the worship of Naga dragon and dragon in Buddhism. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Buddhism spread rapidly in China, and the worship of the Dragon King in Buddhism was also introduced to China. In the local dragon worship in China, only the dragon god worship, not the dragon king worship. The worship of the Dragon King was introduced after the introduction of Buddhism. With the spread of Buddhism, the Dragon King, Dragon Palace and Dragon Lady also spread rapidly.

However, there have been five-color dragons and four-world gods in China since ancient times, and they were often called dragon gods before the Song Dynasty. It was not until Song Huizong established five dragon kings that the dragon king belief became popular.

It can be said that the present Four Seas Dragon King and Five Emperors Dragon King are all local dragon gods sealed by the imperial court, while the Taoist dragon king, which evolved from the local dragon god in China, is the direct patriarch of the Four Seas Dragon King in later ghost novels. Both the Four Seas Dragon King and the Five Emperors Dragon King evolved from the five dragon gods in China.